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The Southeast community compromise includes the placement of 12 

 areas in a special Congressionally-protected status that would 

 permanently prohibit commercial timber harvesting. Less restric- 

 tive than wilderness, this status would allow other compatible 

 multiple-use activities as described in the Land Use Designation 

 II category of the 1979 forest plan. Areas which would receive 

 special permanent protection are: Kadashan River, Chuck River 

 and Windham Bay, Yakutat Forelands, Lisianski and Upper Hoonah 

 Sound, Nutkwa River, Karta River, Mt. Calder and Mt. Holbrook, 

 Young Lake, Outside Islands, Trap Bay, Goose Flats, and Berners 

 Bay. These special areas have been identified by communities as 

 particularly important to them for subsistence, sport, and 

 commercial fishing, and the harvest of wildlife for subsistence 

 and sport. These high values are confirmed by our Department of 

 Fish and Game. 



Communities understand that setting these areas aside from 

 logging will reduce the land base currently available to supply 

 commercial timber. It is important, therefore, that this impact 

 be mitigated to the extent possible by the intensive forest 

 management program. According to the data available to us, these 

 set-asides would reduce the current 450 million board foot annual 

 sale quantity by 28 million board feet. This is about 6% of the 

 average amount to be made available annually in accordance with 

 Section 705(a) of ANILCA. We believe that this reduction will 

 have little effect on existing employment levels, but it is 

 likely to impact potential future jobs as the industry rebounds 

 from its 1980-85 recession. Last year, 331.5 million board feet 

 of sawtimber were harvested from the Tongass Forest, or about 

 three-quarters of the 450 million board foot annual timber 

 supply. This 1988 harvest, according to published Forest Service 

 estimates, directly supported 1781 jobs in the dependent timber 

 industry, and indirectly affected another 3385 jobs in the 

 support services. 



The Southeast compromise also recognized that the forest plan, 

 when revised, might also limit the available timber supply in 

 providing appropriate protection to other resource values. 

 Community leaders and I know that there are such risks and 

 uncertainties with the compromise proposal. We believe, however, 

 that there is greater risk of adverse impact and the promise of 

 renewed conflicts inherent in legislation currently before the 

 Congress. 



For many years, the primary objective of the Forest Service's 

 timber program in southeast Alaska has been to provide community 

 stability and economic diversification. This has been a worth- 

 while objective, but the focus of the program is timber. I 

 believe that Congress should now broaden this objective. The 

 three major sectors of the economy in southeast are commercial 

 fishing, tourism, and timber. Hardrock mining is regaining a 

 major role in the region. The Southeast compromise recognizes 

 that each part of the region's economy is important, and that the 



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